Ecclesiastes
Introduction:
Setting: Likely written during Israel’s monarchy—900-576 BC—to a diverse group of Israelites—from royal counselors to day laborers. The book calls for God’s people to heed wisdom and fear their Creator.
Character: The Teacher. This is the title given to the author. The word teacher comes from the Hebrew word qoheleth which means “to assemble”. It suggests the picture of a respected Israelite king standing before an assembly of his people instructing them in wisdom. Ecclesiastes says that the Teacher was a Davidic king, was greatly wise and wealthy, and arranged many proverbs. Though the book is technically anonymous, Solomon fits the description and is thought to be the author.
Ecclesiastes 1: Key verse – “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” v.14
Read Ecclesiastes 1
Summarize what is says in a sentence or two—focus on what the words communicate rather than application.
What literary features do you see? (look for things ike repeated words, contrasts, metaphors, questions and answers, illustrations, and references or allustions to other parts of Scripture)
v.1-2
--The Teacher has arrived at the conclusion that everything is meaningless. In Hebrew writing, it was customary to put the most important point up front. It makes us want to know how he arrived at that conclusion and keep reading. As we start, do you agree with him that everything is meaningless? Why or why not?
v.3-18: Six points the Teacher makes about life.
v.3—Life is marked by drudgery. What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Life is boring! No matter who you are work and life is inherently monotonous.
v.4—Life is marked by transience. Generations come and go. Our lives are frail and brief. We see the truth of Psalm 90:10: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures…they quickly pass, and we fly away.”
v.5-7—Life is repetitive. The Teacher points out things in the natural world that are repetitive: the sun follows the same course every day, the wind never ceases, streams flow into the sea but the sea is never full.
v.8—Life is insatiable to the point of weariness: the eye never has enough of seeing nor the ear its fill of hearing. Life has an appetite that can never be satisfied.
v.9-11—Life is the same old same old. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” There are no true breakthroughs and no real surprises.
v.12-18—Life is marked by insignificance. The Teacher applied himself to explore everything that is done under the heavens and saw that it was all meaningless—a chasing after the wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened, what is lacking cannot be counted. Much wisdom brings much sorrow and much knowledge brings much grief.
What is the main point of this passage? How does it fit into the broader picture of God’s revelation?
God is not a character in Ecclesiastes 1 but we may be reminded of Him as we think of the meaninglessness the Teacher describes. How does God stand in contrast to what we see here?
Of the six points the Teacher makes, which are most relevant to your life situation? Are any of them particularly hard for you to believe? Why?
Summary: The teacher seems to tell us that there is no life before death. What we have is meaningless. However, we know something the Teacher did not know: Jesus says in John 14:6 the He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the answer to our deepest heartaches and greatest longings. In order to fully appreciate that, however, we need to come to terms with the meaninglessness of life apart from Him and that is what Ecclesiastes will help us to do!